“Any kid can get swept up in a clique or mob mentality. It breaks my heart.”

Phoebe Prince, an Irish immigrant attending South Hadley High School in Massachusetts, committed suicide on January 14, 2010 after a lengthy period of bullying by a clique of five popular students.   The five students are under indictment.  The community is torn apart.  The quote comes from a parent.  The outrage comes from the Barometer. Being caught up in a clique means wearing a Lance Armstrong “LIVE STRONG” yellow bracelet.  Succumbing to unrelenting taunting is soulless.  Surely there is something more meaningful to pass the idle time of our teens than group ridicule.  However, the students who did not participate may, the Barometer suspects, be ones most haunted.  They fell victim to the bystander phenomenon.  Sadly, Ms. Prince’s death now has them speaking up — telling school officials when there is bullying.  Therein is a commentary.  When it comes to speaking up in defense of the defenseless, we are all clique members.  Don’t want to pass judgment.  Don’t want to tattle.  Well, it is a tad worse to watch the destruction of a young woman.  When we will we begin to understand that speaking up is a necessary part of stopping evil?

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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2 Responses to “Any kid can get swept up in a clique or mob mentality. It breaks my heart.”

  1. David A Counts says:

    Standing up and saying “No” or “Enough” or “That is not right” is always one of the hardest things to do. This is a specific tragedy, your web site if full of stories of criminal behavior that could have been stopped sooner if someone said “Stop” sooner (before someone else did or they were caught). A deeply complex psychological phenomenon is at work which prevents truth from being told, whether it is child abuse, bullying, or corporate criminals.

  2. mmjdiary says:

    Yes, it is indeed difficult to stand up and say, “No!” or “Stop!” That it is difficult does not mean that we give up or surrender to those psychological forces. Indeed, recognizing them at work on us as the misconduct/harm unfolds is critical. For more information on this psychology, have a look at “The Seven Signs.” There are even antidotes for these psychological pressures.

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